Minister of agriculture listens to farmers’ demands on first day in office

Mar. 02, 2014 22:50

Minister of Agriculture Ayman Farid Abu Hadid - YOUM7 (Archive)

By EZZ EL-NOUBY

CAIRO: Farmers met with the new Minister of Agriculture Ayman Farid Abu Hadid on Sunday to express their support for him and discuss mutual efforts to solve their issues in the different sectors of agricultural affairs, including the status of junior farmers and the provision of necessary production equipment.

Farmer Syndicate leader Osama al-Gahsh defined farmers’ demands as following: the establishment of strategies to help them market their crops; expansion of exports; monitoring the fertilizers’ market and especially the black market; and providing electricity and water resources to desert lands.

Gahsh further requested a response to the demands that should improve conditions for farmers such as insurance pensions, developing education and health services in villages, setting selling prices on crops before they are cultivated, drop of bank debts of farmers that are experiencing financial shortage and the redistribution of lands among peasants, especially in Upper Egypt.

The current Cabinet is the fourth in which Abu Hadid is appointed minister and farmers are positive about his efforts.